This invention relates to an apparatus for feeding an elongate tape, strip or band of material, particularly that having a multiplicity of protuberant elements formed thereon, in a predetermined direction along a predetermined path. The apparatus of this invention is perhaps best suited for the feeding, through a desired processing station or stations, of a surface type fastener tape, that is, an elongate carrier tape having a multiplicity of interengageable loops or hooks formed thereon, although the invention is obviously applicable to a similar strip of, for example, piled, plushed or tufted textile as well.
A combination of drive and idler rollers represents the most familiar method of feeding an elongate strip of fabric or like flexible material. The drive roller in particular may have its surface covered with a blanket of rubber or like elastic material for the exertion of greater friction. However, such frictional rollers are not necessarily adaptable for the feeding of an elongate surface type fastener tape or any other strip of fabric or like material having formed thereon a multiplicity of protuberant elements such as pile or tufts. Pressed hard against the roller surfaces while being fed under tension, the tape or strip may have its protuberant elements collapsed and so become a defective product.
Japanese Laid Open Utility Model Application No. 53-78291 suggests a more advanced feed mechanism comprising a drive roller covered with an elastic blanket, and an idler roller covered with animal hair or with bristles of a plastic material such as nylon. The idler roller is held against the drive roller via the strip of piled, plushed or tufted textile to be fed. Problems encountered with this known feed mechanism are that the strip is easy to be destroyed if too much pressure is exerted thereon by the two rollers, and that the protuberant elements on the strip tend to become irregularly oriented if the pressure on the strip is uneven. An even application of just the required degree of pressure by this known mechanism is no easy task.